Validity Evidence for a Bovine Uterine Prolapse Reduction Model and Rubric for Use in Teaching and Low-Stakes Assessment of Veterinary Students

Bovine uterine prolapse is a common but emergent condition typically arising in the time surrounding calving. Without treatment, it can result in tissue trauma, infection, hemorrhage, and death. Teaching veterinary students to perform uterine prolapse reduction has historically been dependent upon adequate clinical caseload requiring the procedure. This study sought to develop and collect validation evidence for a silicone bovine uterine prolapse reduction model and associated scoring rubric to enable procedural practice without the presentation of live animals requiring the procedure. This study utilized a validation framework consisting of content evidence (expert opinion), internal structure evidence (reliability of scores produced by the rubric), and relationship with other variables evidence (level of training, novice-to-expert comparison). Veterinary students (<i>n</i> = 37, novices) and veterinarians (<i>n</i> = 11, experts) performed the procedure on the model while being video recorded. All participants then completed a survey about the model. Veterinarians' survey results indicated that the model adequately represented the task and was suitable for teaching and assessing veterinary students' skill in the procedure (content evidence). Scores produced by the rubric had a marginal Cronbach's alpha (.607), suggesting that the rubric may be adequate for low-stakes assessment but would require additional items or modification in order to improve reliability and be suitable for high-stakes assessment (internal structure evidence). Finally, experts achieved higher total rubric scores than novices did (relationship with other variables evidence). This study demonstrated content evidence and relationship with other variables evidence for the bovine uterine prolapse model, indicating its usefulness for teaching this important clinical skill.